The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
42°F
Current Conditions
Clear sky
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Book on Coeur d’Alene serial killer survivor Shasta Groene nominated for Edgar Award

Shasta Groene McClain is interviewed Aug. 8 before a book signing at the Well-Read Moose in Coeur d’Alene for Gregg Olsen’s “Out of the Woods,” detailing the 2005 Groene family murders and Shasta’s kidnapping and sexual assault. (Kathy Plonka/The Spokesman-Review)
Shasta Groene McClain is interviewed Aug. 8 before a book signing at the Well-Read Moose in Coeur d’Alene for Gregg Olsen’s “Out of the Woods,” detailing the 2005 Groene family murders and Shasta’s kidnapping and sexual assault. (Kathy Plonka/The Spokesman-Review)
By Cannon Barnett cannonb@spokesman.com(509) 459-5167

A book detailing the life of Shasta Groene, the 9-year-old survivor of Coeur d’Alene’s infamous Wolf Lodge family murders, has been nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award.

Penned by true crime author Gregg Olsen, the ‘best fact crime’ nominated book “Out of the Woods” was written based on a handful of 12-plus-hour meetings between Olsen, his assistant Robbin Lassen and Groene herself.

“Previously, people who did bother to look at my life after saw only my problems,” Groene wrote of the book before it’s 2025 release in an essay to Oprah Daily. “This time, we explored the why. Self-reflection helped me understand my experiences and myself better.”

During the book’s release last year, hundreds showed to a signing event in Coeur d’Alene.

Edgar Award winners will be announced April 29, with a celebration banquet and symposium to be live-streamed on the Mystery Writers of America YouTube channel.